


Holding Out For A Hero

by LuckyLadybug



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
Genre: Canon Era, Children, During Canon, Gen, Western
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-25 12:54:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30089397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LuckyLadybug/pseuds/LuckyLadybug
Summary: Crash Town is shaking in fear, especially after Malcolm has his brother Lawton throw out the town priest. But young West still believes a hero will come to save them all.
Comments: 25
Kudos: 1





	Holding Out For A Hero

**Author's Note:**

> The characters are not mine and the story is! General_Zargon wanted to see something with Nico and West and requested a piece where they first meet Kalin. I decided to combine it with an idea I'd had of describing things in Crash Town before Kalin's arrival. This was a lot of fun to write, can you tell? Heee. I'm definitely biased in Radley's favor, but I've gathered what canon evidence I can to present things this way. From what little we're shown, and all that we're not shown, I think this seems like a possible way things might have been.

Crash Town was still shaking in fear.

It had always been a town that seemed doomed to host chaos and mayhem. So many people from every walk of life had flocked there hoping for a piece of the dyne mine. In the end, only Malcolm and Radley had held out, and their nightly duels for new labor were the main source of entertainment for the backwater former ghost town.

Radley was a strange man, very young and yet very knowledgeable about business matters. He was charismatic; people followed him because they loved him. He could be immature with his gleeful insults, but he was relatively harmless and many of the townspeople wanted to see him take over in the end.

Malcolm was a brute. He believed in raw power and controlling people with fear and hate. People followed him because they either shared his viewpoint or had been bullied into it. The majority of the townspeople wanted him out, but were too afraid to make a move.

One of the few who had stood up to him was the town priest. He had become such a nuisance that Malcolm had finally done the unthinkable—called on his younger brother Lawton to have the priest forcefully ousted from town. Lawton had shown up and taken care of it with his brute strength and his bizarre machinery and then had gone back to whatever it was he was doing elsewhere. And now that Malcolm had really shown his hand and a taste of his real power, Crash Town didn't know what to do next. For many of the people, being introduced to Lawton had broken their spirits.

The young boy West, however, was undaunted. If anything, he was all the more determined that things had to get better soon. They couldn't get much worse. He and his older sister Nico lived alone since their father had been taken to the mines by Malcolm. It was a small town and most everyone other than Malcolm's Crew were trustworthy. They didn't worry about themselves, but they were always determined to somehow save their father. For that, however, they needed help.

West always came out to watch the nightly duels, as did everyone else. He and Nico always hoped and prayed for a hero, someone to duel for Radley who would really push back against Malcolm's Crew and come out on top. Malcolm had revealed he had his wretched brother in his corner; now the other side needed someone just as powerful or more. West never gave up hoping that person would come. When he did, that was when there would truly be hope of saving their father.

He was always very attentive whenever word got out that a new Duelist was in town. Sometimes that happened daily. Other times there were long stretches before anyone new came. It had certainly been a long time since Radley had found anyone good enough to last longer than a day or two.

Last night someone new had come again; the rumors were swirling around by the following morning. But West hadn't seen any trace of someone new, so now he was wandering the streets in search of a clue. He didn't want to have to wait for sunset to meet them.

In the daytime Crash Town was quiet, but tense. Malcolm's Crew roamed the streets and bullied who they could. Radley's Bunch kept to themselves, waiting and watching for sunset. The townspeople went about their daily business and just tried to keep out of the Malcolm Crew's way. Most didn't mind Radley's Bunch, as despite their punkish appearances, they were respectful and quiet instead of demanding and merciless.

West saw some of the Bunch now, just sitting on their motorcycles at the end of the street and talking quietly among themselves. Some seemed on edge. Seeing that, Radley started singing under his breath, just loud enough for them to hear. _"And he's bad, bad Lawton Brown, baddest man in the whole damn town. . . ."_

The Bunch laughed. Radley leaned back with a smirk.

Radley always looked out for his gang. He was there to talk to if any of them wanted to talk or cheer them up if they were distressed. His juvenile insults directed at the Malcolm Crew were just to get his men to laugh. He was a nice person and still fairly clean-cut despite the air of worldliness he tried to present. West had watched him for a long time, and singing classic rock songs with mild swear words in the lyrics was about as naughty as he really got—and he even changed the lyrics if he knew kids were in hearing range. He hadn't seen West today. No one knew exactly who he was or where he was from; hardly anyone even knew his last name. The only thing anyone really knew was that he wasn't from around there. He tried to fit in by using local slang and colloquiums, but he always sounded awkward when he did. He was from an educated background. How he had ended up leading a motorcycle gang was anyone's guess.

Some of the women in town were quite fond of the Bunch; West had heard some of them calling the gang Radley's Lost Boys after the characters in Peter Pan. As Mrs. Rickshaw had explained, all of them were young and with apparently nowhere else to go. They all seemed desperate to stay in town. And the mysterious Radley, was he a lost boy too or just a punk leading the others astray? Opinions were sometimes divided on that. West wasn't fully sure he understood all of what it meant, but he did know he liked Radley. Their father had worked for him and Radley had always treated him well. Now that Malcolm had their father and the kids were alone, Radley often tried to check up on them and make sure they were doing alright.

West ran up to him now. "Hi, Mr. Radley! Everyone's saying some new Duelist came into town last night, but no one's seen him today. Do you know where he is?!"

Radley looked over the handlebars at him. "Hmm. I might. But that sort of thing has to wait for dusk, you know."

"Yeah, I know." West shifted. "I just hoped maybe you'd tell me now."

"Just come to the duel tonight and you'll see him," Radley promised.

And West was definitely there right at sunset, dragging Nico with him. She had grown discouraged with the lack of truly good Duelists on their side, but West never gave up. Every night he hoped that this would be when Crash Town's hero would present himself.

This night started out the same as all the others. Malcolm and Radley led their groups to the town square and traded a few opening insults. Malcolm brought out his latest champion, undefeated for some time now. Then, as they all waited for Radley's Duelist to appear . . .

. . . The mournful sound of a harmonica filled the air. It was chilling, captivating. West turned with wide eyes towards the sun. A man was silhouetted against the orange flame, his coat and long hair blowing in the breeze. He played his instrument as he came closer, and then the song finished and he stood there with an emotionless expression. It was magic, just like the scenes in old classic Westerns when the good guy shows up in a blaze of glory just at the right time. West knew—their hero had finally come.

Others, however, didn't share that opinion.

"What kind of joke is this?!" Malcolm's Duelist snarked.

"Let's see if you're laughing after we start," the newcomer replied.

"Alright, Kalin," Radley grinned. "Show them what you've got."

"DRAW!" the townspeople yelled.

Kalin whipped his Duel Gun out with lightning fast speed and had it open with his first hand drawn before the other guy had fully unfolded his Duel Gun.

"Cool!" West exclaimed.

"It takes more than a quick draw to win a duel, West," Nico said.

"It's a start!" West defended. "I know he's our hero, Nico! Just watch."

The duel swiftly got underway and Kalin soon proved that, indeed, he was no ordinary Duelist. Within moments, Malcolm's undefeated champion was defeated and being taken away to the mines. The townspeople stood in shock.

Malcolm was having a cow. "You rat, Radley!" he bellowed. "How did you get a prize Duelist like this working for you?!"

Radley sneered at him. "Because your offer didn't appeal to him. The tables have turned now, Malcolm. You're not going to keep winning."

"We'll just see about that," Malcolm spat. He turned and stormed back to his vehicle. "Let's get out of here!" He rode off in a fury, his men following close behind.

Radley laid a hand on Kalin's shoulder. "You were incredible, Kalin. You're just what I needed."

"And you're just what the town needs too!" West exclaimed as he ran over.

Kalin stared down at him in surprise. "What?"

"A hero!" West elaborated. "You're going to save us all!"

Kalin just kept staring. "I can't save anyone."

"You will," Nico said as she came up next to her brother. Finally, she believed too.

"Oh, now you have some high ideals to live up to," Radley told Kalin. "These are West and Nico, the kids of one of my former Duelists."

Nico nodded. "Mr. Radley helps us when he can, but we needed a strong Duelist to fight Malcolm's Crew! Now we have one!"

"You shouldn't be putting your trust in me," Kalin objected. "This was just one win."

"We haven't had a win in a really long time," Nico said softly. "You've finally given us hope."

West nodded. And then suddenly his eyes went wide. "Wait a minute, your name is Kalin?! Like Kalin from the Enforcers in Satellite?!"

Kalin froze. ". . . Yes. . . ."

Radley quirked an eyebrow. "You didn't mention that. I didn't think you could possibly be that Kalin."

"That was a long time ago," Kalin brusquely answered. "The Enforcers broke up years in the past."

"Still, that makes you quite the celebrity in these parts," Radley said. "Everyone knows about the Enforcers here."

"Everyone said you died," West said softly. "But you're alive! And you're here! Now I know we're going to keep winning!"

Kalin turned away. "I did die," he said.

"Hey, you're leaving so soon?" Radley asked. He looked like he wanted to question Kalin more about that bizarre statement, but he wouldn't do it in front of the kids. "We should celebrate this victory! Come back to the diner with us."

Kalin didn't look pleased, but he did get on a motorcycle to ride off with the gang.

Radley waved to the kids. "We'll see you later."

"Bye!" West waved with both hands. "We'll be back for the duel tomorrow!"

He headed home with Nico, his heart truly light for the first time in weeks. They were going to be okay now. He knew it! And someday soon, with Kalin's help, they would finally free their father and everyone else.


End file.
